Audrey, Wait by Robin Benway

I had heard a lot of good stuff about this book, so naturally I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about. Now, though, I am going to stick even more to the fact that just because a book is popular, doesn't mean it's any good.

Don't get me wrong, the plot was fresh and I can't count how many times I laughed out loud, but seriously, we can do without all the cuss words thank you very much!

Audrey's character was likable and seemed like she was going to be different and not have some clone personality. Er, so I thought until she goes and makes-out with a rock-star at random. I mean gosh, at RANDOM? Sounds like some Hollywood reality show stunt or maybe all that loud music was affecting Audrey's thinking?

I could see why some people really love this book. It's your average fantasy love story gone-wrong gone-right or the tale of an unexpected ride to fame. Some people-like me-might not enjoy this book because it had too much language. 

Either way, Audrey Wait! was still a disappointment [sniff] (especially after I won this book in a contest) and I won't be recommending it. Next time, Benway, please write something that won't make your ears ring every time a character says the "f" word.

             Rating:

 

      Reviewer Enjoyment:

 Pages: 313     Year Published: 2008    Fiction: Realistic/Contemporary 

Level: YA (16+)     This Book is For: Girls   

Should You Waist You Eyes on This? No

Rat Life: A Mystery by Tedd Arnold

It's 1972.

What happens when your parents own a motel, your dad doesn’t believe in allowance, and your teacher caught you writing alien stories and made the whole class do a creative writing assignment?

After a tragic accident with a stray puppy, Todd meets a strange, but funny guy named Rat who offers him a job at a cheesy drive-in movie theater.

So far Todd’s summer is just dandy (minus the dead guy in the river) until a puke green car shows up for the second time). Then comes Rat’s strange reactions and a story about Rat fighting in Vietnam, even though Rat is barely an adult.

In the words of ‘Leaky’ Simmons: the plot thickens.
So just what is going on in Elmina, NY? Does Rat have anything to do with the dead guy in the river ? And Mrs. Hagerwood is still waiting for that creative writing paper..... 

The Review

I only got through the first two chapters before I was laughing. Humor coming from the mouth of a fourteen year old boy (or any “guy” for that matter-no offense) can be crude and a bit disguising. Nonetheless, it did add a personal touch to the book.

The book cover says ‘A Mystery’, but it’s really more of a mini-fictional memoir of Todd telling Rat’s story, or a book within a book.

Rat Life deals with a violet situation involving Rat’s family, hence there is some language. And....oh, yeah it’s the 70s so life wasn’t perfect back then either.

It was an okay story, but definitely something I could live without reading........

                   Rating:                                                 

           Reviewer Enjoyment:

Pages: 199    Year Published: 2007    Level: YA   (14+)

Fiction: Realistic/Contemporary    

Should I Waist My Eyes On This? No

The Luxe by Anna Godbergson

From the book jacket:

From the book jacket:

Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. But when the girls discover their family's status is far from secure, suddenly everyone is a threat to their golden future. Set in a world of luxury and deception, this thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent.

Where do I start?

First of all this book was stupid. I mean who would want to read about some rich snobs gossiping, creating scandals, and ruining their lives?!

The plot sounds like something out of a Desperate Housewives episode (not that I watch that show) and how could anyone like the characters? They're silly and fake and just so you know, the average person living in 1899 would not be involved in scandals like these girls; or if they were, they would go to the grave without telling a soul. I got halfway through the book and just couldn't finish it.

The only thing that I found that I liked was the detailed descriptions of the balls and the mansions. Other than that, it was a waste of paper and a good cover picture. My view of historical fiction is that it should be exciting, enjoyable, and you actually get something out of the book, like say a bit of history? There are tons of books out there that are worth your while, but The Luxe isn't one of them-no matter what your friends say or the media says.

Rating:           

Reviewer Enjoyment:

Pages: 388       Year Published: 2007      Level: YA (16+)    

Fiction: Historical       Time Period: Early 1900s/Victorian Era    

Should I Waist My Eyes on This? No              

Two Girls of Gettysburg by Lisa Klein

FROM THE BOOK JACKET:

Lizzie and Rosanna are cousins. But when the Civil War breaks out, fifteen-year-old Lizzie finds herself committed to the cause of the Union, while Rosanna is swept up in the passions of the old south—and in her love for a young Confederate officer. Torn in their alliances, yet as devoted as sisters, each girl finds herself grappling with the senseless brutality of war, and the sacrifices that must be made

 in order to su

rvive. It will take one of the war’s bloodiest battles—fought on the farmlands of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—to bring them together again. Unflinching in its portrayal of war, and inspiring in its depiction of two resilient young women, this is a historical novel of exceptional depth and reach.

The Review

Two Girls of Gettysburg was fairly slow and didn’t start getting interesting until half-way through the book. The book was way too long for it just to end after the Battle of Gettysburg. (I would have enjoyed the book even if it just was about the Battle of Gettysburg period.) The book really took off just before Battle of Gettysburg and proved itself a recommendation. The battle scene at the end of the novel was breathtaking. I really loved it the detail and emotion Klein put into the final battle of the Civil War. I really enjoyed Lizzie’s side of the story because Roanna’s was a bit too stiff and there towards the middle, she only talked about historical events.

Klein did do a good job at portraying two very different girls: with Lizzie there was a sense of hidden adventure; with Rosanna there was a sense of a fantasy gone haywire. Lizzie learned to dream and Rosanna got a reality check. Both girls saw and experienced the aftermath of battles: they walked through the bullets, watched people die, and lost loved ones.

Two Girls of Gettysburg was a stunning read about the Civil War and all it’s tragedies and yep, happy endings-despite it’s slowness in places. I hope Klein writes more HF!

Rating: 3 stars       Pages: 387       Year Pub.:2008   Level: YA   Fiction: Historical

Time Period: Civil War (1870s)         Recommend? Yes

White Sands, Red Menace by Ellen Klages

FROM THE JACKET:

It is 1946, and the events of The Green Glass Sea have changed the world—and Dewey Kerrigan’s life. She’s now living near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico with the Gordon family. Dr. Gordon is working on rockets that will someday go to the moon; Mrs. Gordon is working on stopping the Bomb. Meanwhile, Dewey and her “sister,” Suze, share secrets, art, and science as they adjust to high school in an isolated desert town. Then, like a different kind of dropped bomb, Dewey’s long-lost mother, Rita Gallucci, reappears in their lives. And she wants to take her daughter away. 

The Review

Like it says above, it's the sequel to The Green Glass Sea. Though I didn't read the first book first, I'm glad I didn't. Who knows, if I hadn't picked up the second book because: #1 there's not many books about life after WWII; #2 it took place in Alamogordo, New Mexico, I may have not never gotten to meet Dewey and Suze.

It was fun reading about the 40s with it's first Harley Davidson gangs, old movies, slang words of the era, the first TVs, and the inside scoop on the missiles being tested out on the White Sands Missile Range.

This book will make you look for the nearest Drug Store that sells old fashion sodas! 

 Dewey and Suze are two average girls (with the exception of "bomb scientist" parents): one's the artsy string bean and the other is the "whiz kid". Having The Wall gave the book a great whimsical fling to it. (Dewey and Suze literally built a entire wall with moving gizmos, levers, pulleys, a diorama of the Alamogordo fair, and other movable objects.) I definitely recommend reading this book-wether or not you've read the first one.

-Alamogordo Now-

Alamogordo hasn't changed much (I pass through there often since I live in NM), just a little newer. The School for the Blind is still there, so is the scrap yard that's mentioned in the book (it's three times as bigger now and filled with old cars), and the Missile Range is as active as ever.

There is no "Little Chihuahua" anymore, but since the German Military Base was founded, there has been hundreds of German moving in. So many, that there is now German side of town.

Well there you have it. The past and present history of Alamogordo, NM. Now, you need to get a better taste of it through Ellen Klages White Sands, Red Menace!

Rating: 4 stars    Pages: 352        Year Pub.:2008   Level: YA        

Fiction: Historical    Time Period: 1940s    This Book Is For: Girls   

 Should I Waist My Eyes on This? Yes    

(see the ratine scale at the bottom of this blog)

Morgan & Julie

Anything But Ordinary by Valerie Hobbs

Winifred and Bernie are best friends, and most of all they like to be different. When the kids at school would wear Nike shoes, they'd wear Converse. When the latest fad was designer clothes, they would wear "recycled" t-shirts and jeans from the second hand store.
They were different.....until Wini left for college, then everything began to change. Fearing Wini would become like everyone else, Bernie decides to go after her.
By the time Bernie shows up at UOC, it's too late, Wini changed so much that Bernie isn’t sure he loves her anymore.
In the end, they both discover that being different is what they should be.

The Review

This book was terrible. It started out okay, but by the time it got to UOC, it mentioned all kinds of disgusting dorm room secrets.  Sure Hobbs did give a point: you shouldn't be like everybody else just because you don't fit in; but by the time it got to that part, Wini and Bernie had made all kinds of bad decisions (mostly Wini). I mean do you really want to read about all the bad stuff that happens (or that they say that happens) in college? I did not like it personally because I felt the author wrote in a very loose manor instead presenting the hard facts and consequences of Wini and Bernie's actions. The author need to make it a bit more clear that if you do those things, you have to live with those choices for the rest of your life instead of the characters knowing how they messed up, and then life going back to being "peachy-keen".

 My recommendation to you is skip the book and take the advice from above..... and don't go to the University of California.

Rating: 1 star    Pages: 176     Year Published: 2007    Level: YA (ages16+)    

Fiction: Realistic/ Contemporary       Should I Waist My Eyes on This? No

(see rating scale at the bottom of this blog)

Morgan & Julie

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

Ann is a countess. Or was until the Russian Revolution. Now the remaining Grazinsky family live penniless in England.
Ann decides to take a job as a servant in the house of the Earl of Westerholme. She must hide her aristocratic past and try to desperately fit into the "downstairs" life.
When Rupert, the Earl, makes plans to marry the beautiful but wicked Muriel Hardwicke, the household of Mersham is in deep trouble. Will Mersham, as well as the county be spared the cruelty of Miss Hardwicke? And will things ever be the same for Russia's "Little Star"?

The Review

At first I was a bit wary about reading this book because the reviews went on and on about how she falls in love with the Earl, Rupert. A Countess Below Stairs is actually a story about: Mersham and its whimsical characters; a cruel and deceitful wealthy heiress; a war-torn Earl; a few loony cousins; and a countess desperately trying to pose as a housemaid.

I really liked the characters and found myself laughing out loud at Anna, the handsome Prince Sergei, and the story of Pupkin (the dachshund who swallowed a diamond).

I loved A Countess Below Stairs because it's not your average gooey love story. The characters are unique and Anna was quite hilarious-I kept rooting for Anna to tell everyone she was a Duchess.

Some people might say it's too much of a fairy tale story, but who doesn't like a happily-ever-after?

Rating: 5 stars Pages: 400 Year Pub.:2007 Level: YA Fiction: Historical

Time Period: World War I This Book Is For: Girls

Recommend? Yes